"EXTRAORDINAIRE"

“One good thing about music; when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

- (Bob Marley)

I hope that all aspects of life is just like music- no hurts… no pain.

“His compassion is even greater than a mother’s.”

Sometimes we face struggles in life, and we are tempted to think that God has forgotten us. We may even believe that God no longer loves us. But God’s love for us is as expansive as the open arms of Christ on the cross. And the tender compassion of our heavenly father is far more dependable and more enduring than a love of a nursing mother for her infant. Be comforted- HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS.

By: Bill Crowder

It’s all about You, Jesus.

EXPRESS NOT TO IMPRESS…

FAITH greater than fears.

The Way of Love

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 

PASINAYA 2013

These shots are just sample photos from the CCP Pasinaya 2013 event last February 3.

@ WILDLIFE with Jeanne, Jessie, and Ariane

WILDLIFE MADNESS…

Read: Matthew 14:22-36

Death scares me. I love my life, and I don’t want it to end. There’s also a part of me that wonders what the afterlife is really like. What if it’s different from what the Bible says?

Some people might think that my fears are unchristian and a threat to my faith. On the contrary, I think that they’re not only normal- who honestly isn’t afraid of the great beyond? - But they also play an important role in my faith. Fear doesn’t prevent me from having faith; fear actually presents the possibility for greater faith.

It was no greater thing for Peter to walk on land, but to lower himself over the side of the boat and splash through whitecaps toward our Lord- that took FAITH. We can, of course, allow fear to overwhelm us to the point of losing faith. But we can also channel our fear into Peter’s desperate cry as he began to sink, “Save me, Lord!” (Matthew 14:30)

Having faith does not mean that we’re not afraid. It gives us the courage to stand tall and to hang on in the middle of our fears. And the greater our fears, the stronger our faith can become.

We place our faith in Jesus, whose resurrection has defeated death. If we minimize death and claim that it’s no big deal, then inadvertently also cheapen Christ’s resurrection that conquered it. But if we honestly admit that death is the enemy that terrifies us, then we can begin to appreciate the unparalleled power of the resurrection.

Faith isn’t about suppressing fear and pretending that everything is okay. But it does allow us to swallow hard- with shaky knees and sweaty palms- and cling to God’s promise that we will live again. Death is frightening, and for that reason it provides the ultimate test of our faith.

(author: unknown)